BY STEVEN GLOSSER
The Pelham Parkway Neighborhood
Association held its October
meeting at Bronx House on Tuesday
Oct 15 before a robust and lively
crowd in attendance. Our featured
speaker was Nivardo Lopez, Bronx
Borough Commissioner from the
NYC Department of Transportation.
Before the meeting there were announcements
from our local offi cials
representatives giving community
updates.
Nivardo explained the roles and
responsibilities of the DOT. The
DOT’s responsibilities include dayto
day maintenance of the city’s
streets, highways, bridges and sidewalks.
The DOT is also responsible
for installing and maintaining the
city’s street signs,including missing
signs, traffi c signals and street
lights. DOT supervises street resurfacing,
pothole repair,street sinking,
parking meter installation and maintenance,
and the management of a
municipal parking facilities. DOT is
the exclusive provider of day-to-day
operations and maintenance on New
York State-maintained roads and
highways in city limits, while major
repairs and capital improvements on
state-owned roads are performed by
the NYS Department of Transportation.
Both NYC DOT and NYS DOT
reserve the right to install signage,
signals, and other roadway features
on state highways, which then become
maintained on a daily basis by
DOT. DOT sets the speed limit on all
roads and highways in the city, including
those owned by NYS DOT.
DOT is also responsible for oversight
of transportation-related issues,
such as authorizing jitney van
services and permits for street construction.
DOT also advocates for
transportation safety issues, including
promotion of pedestrian and bicycle
safety.
They will also conduct studies
when requested by the citizens for
speed bumps, new traffi c light locations,
timing of street lights to improve
traffi c fl ow and speed cameras.
The request must be made thru 311
so the request is logged and documented.
A request may also be made
thru the offi cial DOT website. nyc.
gov/dot.
For a very urgent issue contact-
Lopez at nlopez1@dot.nyc.gov.
Nivardo also informed us of the
new laws regarding school buses and
cameras being installed on the exterior
of school buses for child safety.
Remember when a school bus is letting
off children there are always
children not only by the bus exits
but also by the blind spots so please
be extra vigilant near exiting school
buses.
Every property owner is responsible
for the maintenance and upkeep
of their sidewalk. Call 311/DOT to
inspect for sidewalk defects .If the
property is not repaired after 75 days
the DOT issues a notice of violation
and they will then repair and bill
the property owner ,if the bill is not
then paid after the time allotted by
the DOT then a lien will be put on the
property. DOT has a program for 1-,
2-, and 3-family home owners to work
out a payment plan with the NYC Department
of Finance.
The DOT will go to the entire
block for an inspection after a call
to 311 is made. A property owner can
correct the issue by themselves or
hire a contractor. They must obtain
a permit. After the work is completed
a dismissal inspection is done by the
DOT.
There is a new policy regarding
tree damage to your sidewalk.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that
the city will now pick up the tab to
repair sidewalks damaged by cityowned
trees, and the city will also
ramp up sidewalk repairs under the
‘Trees and Sidewalks’ program to
address 5,500 priority sites over the
next three years. Previously, homeowners
were responsible for fi xing
the damage under threat of fi nes.” de
Blasio said. “We tripled funding for
tree related sidewalk repair, but homeowners
were still on the hook for
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problems they didn’t create. The city
will stop imposing liens on 1-, 2- and
three-family properties that have
sidewalk damage caused solely by
city trees, and while the DOT and the
Parks Department will still inspect
for dangerous sidewalk conditions,
the city -- not the homeowner -- will
be responsible for fi xing them if they
are exclusively tree related.
The DOT will review the 50,000
existing notices of violation to determine
which were caused exclusively
by street trees and cancel the lien for
any that meets the criteria, de Blasio
said. If the homeowner of the qualifying
property is selling or refi nancing
their home, the city will expedite
this re-evaluation. In 2005, the Parks’
t Trees and Sidewalks program was
created to benefi t homeowners by repairing
severely damaged sidewalks
impacted by street tree growth.
De Blasio said this announcement
builds upon the $16 million funding
increase for the Trees and Sidewalk
Repair Program in 2017.
The DOT is responsible for street
repaving and street marking and
fi xing and repairing all sidewalks
on city sidewalks meaning NYCHA
property. They are prioritizing them
right now. The trees are maintained
by the Parks Dept. There is a new
regulation in place for any new street
designs that the fi re dept has to sign
off on it to meet their approval. This
was put into place because of all the
issues with the Pelham Parkway
south side street designs that had to
be updated after the initial construction.
The DOT is currently updating
all curb cuts throughout the city for
re-inspection. There are limitations
regarding the installations of bus
shelters on a certain street. For instance
the sidewalk cannot be narrowed
and how busy the bus spot is.
That’s why not every bus stop can
have a bus shelter.
When there is ponding or a defect
in a street the DOT will determine
which agency will fi x it. For instance
catch basins are the responsibility of
the DEP.
After the report Mr. Lopez then
took questions from our audience. A
member of the audience requested
that a study be done on signal timing
and street lights from Colden Avenue
to Bronx Park East. The PPNA thanks
Lopez very much on his excellent presentation
to the community .
The next meeting of the PPNA
will be on Tuesday, November 12 at
7:15 p.m. at Bronx House. Our scheduled
featured speaker will be Senator
Alessandra Biaggi and our elected
offi cials. Please join us. The PPNA
works around the clock and year
round the improve the quality of life
and safety in Pelham Parkway. We
can be reached by email at pelhamparkway
NA@gmail.com. Follow us
and like us on Facebook for neighborhood
updates and important information.
See you on November 12.
Assemblyman Michael Benedetto,
in conjunction with Councilman
Mark Gjonaj, announces that
the MetroCard Mobile Van will visit
in front of the assemblyman’s offi ce,
located at 3602 E. Tremont Avenue,
on Friday, November 8, between the
hours of 1 to 3 p.m.
The MetroCard Mobile Van enables:
• Senior citizens 65 years of age
or older to apply for Reduced-Fare
MetroCard and receive a temporary
card on the spot (Bring proof
of age such as a Medicare card and
valid photo identifi cation);
• People with disabilities that
qualify, and who present a Medicare
card and valid photo ID such as a
driver’s license to apply for Reduced-
Fare MetroCard;
• Daily riders to add money to
their Reduced-Fare MetroCard; and
• Everyone to get all MetroCard
questions answered.
For more information, call (718)
892-2235
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